CHENNAI: Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar heard the final arguments on the disqualification petitions against four former AIADMK MLAs who joined TVK, at the Secretariat on Thursday. Both sides said the speaker had heard their arguments and expressed confidence in his decision.
Advocate Surya Prakasam, appearing for three of the MLAs, Jayakumar (Perundurai), Sathyabama (Dharapuram) and Maragatham Kumaravel (Madurantakam), told reporters that AIADMK had failed to prove that its whip was served on them before the floor test. Of the three, Sathyabama and Maragatham Kumaravel were later re-elected on TVK tickets in the recent by-elections.
He argued that AIADMK had not produced postal acknowledgement cards, WhatsApp messages or any other documents to establish that the whip was served. He also pointed out that AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, who filed the disqualification petitions, had neither appeared before the Speaker nor submitted evidence in support of his complaint.
However, Krishnamurthy said the AIADMK had presented its arguments seeking the disqualification of all four MLAs. Rejecting the argument that the whip had not been served, Krishnamurthy said personal service was not necessary and cited court judgments in support of the party’s stand.
